Never try to clean a parakeet cage with a vacuum cleaner

We were bumbling down a nearby lane this morning when we spotted a parakeet in one of the trees. Though they do not hail from these parts, we host a great number of parakeets in this capital. Some of them work very hard. Some of them make an incredible noise. Others flit about silently and at night. I came across two yesterday. They seemed to be working all day long, probably for very little, while the owners of the tree were away I believe. Anyway, we stared up at this one parakeet, its elaborate strangeness, the emerald green feathers, ring-neck and red beak. It seemed strange that something so exotic could survive the clumsiness of our cold winters. We have since discovered online they came here originally from the foothills of the Himalayas - we like foothills - and there are well over 30,000 rushing about the capital. Parakeets of course are not the only foreign invaders in this land. We have the Chinese mitten crab, for example, as well as the more familiar grey squirrel. (Bless 'em all, the long and the short and the tall ...) Non-native species, in other words. Whatever that means. Birds, like humans, often take flight. They even say the Celts hail from Vedic India. No, we will grow accustomed to the parakeet. Successful integration, I believe, is key. It will also help of course if they don't change the culture too much, especially of our schools, and push them to 'breaking point'. Some parakeets have already developed good relations with the crows and magpies, I hear. This has got to be a good thing. I gather some have even stopped feeding themselves with their claws, using their beaks instead, just like everyone else. Unfortunately some people will always resent non-native species. (This is ignorance as much as prejudice.) As long as the parakeets don't cause too much harm to the ecosystem, or attack the other birds, I don't see too much of a problem. No, the parakeets, I suspect, are here to stay. They've already colonised the nearby cemetery.